I have to admit that I am pretty naïve and still very inexperienced in the general and political history of the area where I am living. Just this week I finally started to read more of the history, to try and sift through the documents from the early 1900's up until today such as the Balfour Declaration, the State of Israel Proclamation of Independence, and the UN Resolutions regarding Israel/Palestine. I realize that this is a little late for me to start studying these documents, to start looking at the political history but I have been more focused on my work on the ground, in seeing and participating in the day to day life of the refugee camp. As this part of the adventure comes to an end, I have realized that neglecting to really look into history has heavily affected my journal entries and some of my writings.

I was ashamed to be an American the other day. I have just finished working on a short video capturing a little bit of what those of us that are here from my graduate school do here in the West Bank. A piece of the video focuses on two of us talking about the perceptions of internationals in Dheisheh. (You can watch it above or download it at "Walking in the West Bank..." on the Ibdaa Cultural Exchange download page ) I was assigned to accompany a delegation from the United States through the camp along with Shadi and Qussay. Sometimes Ibdaa likes to have a native English speaker along with the delegations, especially one of us that has been here for a little while. Before leaving the center where the group had just had an orientation to the history of Dheisheh, they were asked to be respectful on the streets and to not give out anything. What followed was exactly what I dread. Shadi, Qussay and I watched in dismay as the group of roughly 20 began to hand out tacky plastic peace necklaces and other small trinkets to all the people on the street. At the same time they yelled to each other to come take photo after photo of the people, especially children, with the necklaces. I don't want to try and sound high and mighty but this is not the way to show solidarity. I didn't feel like I could say anything to them and the Palestinians with me were in too much shock to know what to do. It was impossible to get the group to move anywhere and when they ran out of trinkets, the kids who hadn't gotten any, crowded around them asking for more. They just threw up their hands and walked away from the children, now focused on catching up with the group. I am sure the group's hearts were in the right place but their actions are what make being an international in the camp difficult. The people of Dheisheh saw me with that group; I don't know how it will affect things. I apologize for ranting a bit here. Along with the co-director and a number of other internationals, we tried to assess the situation after it happened. The co-director was angry that the delegation had done such a thing. He pointed out that there is a huge difference between solidarity and charity and to him, this felt like charity, something to make the delegation feel better about themselves...

The talks in Annapolis start this week. Israel has deployed thousands of extra troops in the West Bank, they have beefed up their anti-terrorism force. Those of us here at Ibdaa are curious as to what will happen here this week. And I am set to work at an Israeli school near Jerusalem this Thursday. I am excited for this opportunity to work with Israeli youth but I am curious as to how the atmosphere around Jerusalem (a main point of contention between the Palestinian's and the Israeli's) will affect that trip, whether it will feel different this time in that area.